Saturday, May 09, 2015

Obama Forces Gay Agenda on Schools via Taxpayer$$

With virtually zero notice to parents, the Fairfax County (Virginia) School Board suddenly voted Thursday night to fully embrace the transgender/cross-dressing tenets of the Gay Agenda regarding both employees and students, meaning that all formerly private restrooms and locker rooms will be fair game for "any and all genders."

"The Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education is requiring that school divisions revise their non-discrimination policies to include gender identity."-- Deputy Superintendent Steven Lockard, Fairfax County Public Schools

"The decision by the Fairfax County School Board to add ‘gender identity’ to our nondiscrimination policy is to provide an environment which promotes equality where every student and employee is treated with dignity and respect."-- Chair Tammy Derenak Kaufax, Fairfax County School Board

The School Board voted 10 to 1 with one abstention to add “gender identity” to its non-discrimination policy, two months after Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D) issued an opinion granting local school boards the authority to expand protections to transgender people.

The School Board voted in November to include sexual orientation in its non-discrimination policy after the Supreme Court let stand rulings that allow gay marriages in Virginia and other states. (emphasis added)

The auditorium at Luther Jackson Middle School was filled to capacity, with about 500 people in attendance. At times, the meeting was interrupted by vocal opposition from hundreds in the audience who chanted and booed.

Kaufax at one point hammered her gavel and threatened to clear the auditorium if audience members continued to interject. At least five Fairfax County police and school security officers were standing in the room during the meeting. Some in attendance stood to turn their backs on board members as they spoke in favor of the policy change.

"No student, employee, or applicant for employment in the Fairfax County Public Schools shall, on the basis of age, race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, marital status, or disability, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity, as required by law. It is the express intent of the School Board that every policy, practice, and procedure shall conform to all applicable requirements of federal and state law."

The school board held its vote during a heated and contentious public hearing Thursday night at Luther Jackson Middle School in Falls Church. People were fired up on both sides with screaming and shouting during the meeting. It got so bad that the board threatened to kick everyone out while police and security even showed up.

The supporters pushing for this change said they are doing this not
because of an outcry for it from their community, but because of a
mandate by the U.S. Department of Education in Washington.

Fairfax County School Board Chair Tamara Derenak Kaufax said in a statement after the vote:

"On March 4, 2015, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring said local school boards have the authority under state law to include gender identity in their non-discrimination policies. The U.S. Department of Education has told school districts that transgender students are protected from discrimination under Title IX and has recently required some school districts including Alexandria, Virginia, to amend their policies to expressly include gender identity."

Many parents [at the Board meeting] were concerned the new rules will allow boys and girls who identify as the opposite sex to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice, and that the school board is rushing the decision without asking for their input.

Efforts to add the language to the school’s nondiscrimination policy began in March as a way to help transgender students and staff in the schools feel more welcome, but some are calling it simply government overreach.

According to Andrea Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition, a religious advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., the board has been trying for weeks to pass the policy change, but only informed parents it would be voting on the change two days before the meeting.

“The School Board is showing a glaring disregard for the interests of the majority of parents with children in the county’s public schools,” she said in a statement.”No public hearing was ever held, just two brief 30 minute testimony periods and then ‘Bingo!’, the School Board will vote.”

The vote was last night, but some Fairfax County parents say their campaign is not over.

The vote came after testimony from an equal number of parents on each side of the issue -- but in a room that was packed with parents who opposed it.

"Right there in front of us were our representatives that were voted by our people," [parent Arlinda] Hanna said. "And they completely shut the doors on us."

One board member voted against the measure, wanting to delay it instead: Elizabeth Schultz.

"The question is, what message do we send parents?" Schultz said. "That we want your taxpayer dollars, we want you to participate in the PTA, we want you to participate in fundraisers, we want you to volunteer in the schools -- but then we want you to go away?"

She said she has gotten many emails from parents thanking her for her stand.

A plan to add “gender identity” to a Virginia school’s nondiscrimination policy has enraged parents and preachers . . . of the nation’s tenth largest school district . . .

Martin Baker, the pastor of Burke Community Church, warned that “the damage and destruction to our children, teens and impacted adults will be incalculable.”

“Everything from locker rooms to bathrooms will be potentially open for people who simply feel that their inner sexuality does not match their outer, physical sexuality,” he wrote in an email to the 3,000-member congregation.

“This is not just shocking, it is morally and spiritually abhorrent, and that is why I am convinced this is one cultural issue where we, as a church, must speak up and out with clarity, compassion and conviction,” he added.

“This is a beating into submission of the American people and the taxpayers by the Obama Administration and those willfully going along with it,” said [Andrea] Lafferty. “They are going to say if you don’t comply, we’re going to take away your lunch money – your federal funding.”

In Fairfax County, that amounts to a lot of lunch money. The Washington Post reports the district receives $42 million from the federal government – about 1.7 percent of its budget.